


although it lingers on

by sgrAyonderii



Series: SS Month 2020 [2]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Aftermath of Violence, Canonical Character Death, F/M, Gen, SSM 2020, Some Despriptions of violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-24
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:53:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 667
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28281978
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sgrAyonderii/pseuds/sgrAyonderii
Summary: SSM20 prompt 10: colors of you and meAll he sees is red.
Relationships: Haruno Sakura/Uchiha Sasuke
Series: SS Month 2020 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2071710
Comments: 2
Kudos: 31





	although it lingers on

On that night, the streets flow with blood. It paints the brick work of his home. The splatters on the walls transform his house into a grotesque piece of modern art. 

He runs and runs. He screams and screams. And there is not a soul remaining to hear him. 

Sasuke remembers how his brother’s eyes reflected the carnage. How his spinning irises fit into the scenery dyed in the setting sun. Matches even, the color of their parents lying in their living room.

* * *

When he pulls his hand out of Naruto’s chest, he can’t help but feel a solemn sadness enveloping him. Watching his only friend, almost brother, bleeding out and fading away. 

But he is also giddy. He wants to smile. He wants to laugh. The feeling bubbles up from the depths of his heart. Because the color on his hands is the same as Itachi’s.

There is power crackling beneath the curses he now bears. There is a chance for vengeance. 

And soon, it will be his brother’s blood between his fingers. 

* * *

His eyes remember everything. 

So the memory of his brother, falling to the ground painted in the colors of his family, are burned into Sasuke’s weary spirit.

He remembers later that even his tears are dyed in crimson. 

* * *

In place of his arm is a splatter broken bones and muscle fibers and torn sinew. He wonders if after all of Naruto’s efforts he will die here anyways. 

It is a fitting end for a lost man whose vision has always been shrouded in a violent rage. 

But Sakura is here and she does not let him die. 

Her chakra is calming. Her eyes, so different from his own, are _green green green_. Like a place he barely remembers. Like a feeling he cannot describe. Like the times he tried to forget. The hues of a kind girl who cries for him even now. 

Sasuke supposes that after a lifetime of bloodshed and carnage and red, the complement of her eyes are a welcome change. 

* * *

His hospital room is bleached, empty and devoid. Perfect.

Sasuke wants to be a blank canvas. Free from his own gory past that has defined him. Someone who is still pure and untainted like boy Sakura once said she loved. 

Because when Sakura visits, she is the calming greens of a long lost home and the soft pinks of new beginnings. It is blinding and humiliating how he never wants to look away. 

And desperately, Sasuke wants to be reborn as someone who can stand with her. Be with her. 

Because he knows if he reaches out as he is now, his dirty and stained self will just muddy her radiance. 

* * *

When he leaves for a second time, it is not for vengeance. Not for hatred. Not for fidelity.

Sasuke leaves to become a better person. One who is no longer blinded by wrath and can see the world as it is. Both beautiful and cruel but something worth protecting. 

And when he departs, he cannot help but notice how Sakura’s eyes perfectly complement her rosy cheeks. And Sasuke hopes one day the clan symbol on his back will also be accompanied by the soft pinks of her hair. 

* * *

His wife and daughter both ironically favor red. His wife’s red is a burning passion. His daughter’s red is an indomitable spirit. 

And his hands are covered in it. 

There is a fear that always grips his heart, how one day they too will be painted in a shade he knows far too well. How that rusty tinge is the perfect companion to the uchiwa on their backs. 

But his wife is a healer. The blood on her hands are from the lives she has saved and will save. The gentle green of her aura and the forest in her eyes soothe the little pieces of his leftover heart.

And although that ugly color lingers on, when his wife intertwines her fingers with his, it is nothing but a memory.

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on tumblr on 7/10/2020 for Sasusaku Month 2020. Thank you for reading!


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